Mike Nichols’s 1967 film classic The Graduate probably did more to sell Alfa Romeo convertibles to customers in the United States than any race victory or ad campaign, before or since. Clean Duettos like the one in the movie are hard to come by these days, but are still out there, as we see from this well-maintained 1974 Alfa Romeo 2000 Spider Veloce for sale on Hemmings.com. The current owner has funded the rebuild of the transmission and engine, and has repainted the car in its original color of Verde Inglese. With less than 56,000 miles on the odometer, this Italian classic should deliver years of top-down enjoyment for its next owner. From the seller’s description:

This 1974 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce 2000 is the last year which offered the original chrome bumpers, before U.S. safety regulations required the large unsightly rubber bumpers. It also has the original Spica fuel injection system which works flawlessly. Since I have owned it I have had both the engine and transmission rebuilt (Besic Motorsports, Lombard, IL), as well as a new paint job (Compact Cars, Chicago, IL). There are many other new parts, such as alternator, master brake cylinder, fuel tank, etc. Suspension was also taken care of. I also obtained the difficult to find oil/gas separator for the emissions system, which in all other Alfas of this age have deteriorated long ago. No mechanical part of this vehicle was left untouched and it was brought to original, or better, condition. I would challenge you to find model of this year (S1) in better condition. When I purchased the vehicle, it was in excellent original condition and I simply made it better.

I have all receipts for the work. I should note that the engine was given a 1750 camshaft for added power. Further, when the transmission was rebuilt, the gears were carefully drilled out to lighten the gears, which contributes to ease of shifting and longevity of the gearbox. It is super fast and does not leak or burn any oil which, as you should know, says a lot for an Alfa of this age. I am willing to sit on the car until I get the price I am looking for.

Paint: 9.9 out of 10; no paint job is perfect except when it steps out of the factory; Tires / Wheels: 10 out of 10; has the Ferrari designed Cromodora wheels, comes with original Campagnolo wheels; Motor: 10 out of 10; can”t ask for anything better, Mike Besic tuned this one to be fast! Transmission 10 out of 10; again, can”t ask for anything better; Brakes: 9 out of 10. Interior: 7 out of 10; I left the interior original; I even have the original cigarette lighter that came with the car; Radio: did not come with the original, if there was one; added a 2 Din radio so that I would not have to cut any portion of the brace; added 2 excellent Alpine speakers in the lower footwells; you can really hear the stereo well at full speed with the top down. Rear differential 10 out of 10; pulled, cleaned and repainted, with new gasket and fluid.

My brother had a ’63 Alfa Spyder(?) roadster with that motor, and I’ll never forget the sound that thing made. Must have had a light flywheel or something, because that motor loved to spin, until #3 spark plug blew out of the stripped hole, and after we took it apart, got the hole repaired, it never ran the same. Must have had one of the cams a tooth off , what do you want, bunch of dumb kids had no business taking that thing apart!

Alfa’s have the coolest company logo IMHO. Always thought this model looked out of proportion in its styling though. Like the Citroen sedan. That odd front end stye always puzzled me, Liked the front end design of the the 1960′s models much better.